Empowering the Body, Nourishing the Baby: Unlocking the Potential of Exercise During Breastfeeding
New mothers with active lifestyles wait for their doctor's green signal to start their workouts after childbirth. Regardless of your exercise choice, getting back on the move sure feels good. But can you workout while you're breastfeeding your baby? Most new mothers have many questions about how their workouts and exercise will affect their breast milk supply. Despite the many myths surrounding exercise while breastfeeding, for most women there are no contraindications to exercise while breastfeeding. Let's understand more about it.
Best exercises for nursing women
- walk fast
- to swim
- Yoga
- cycling
- Pilates
- Low intensity aerobic exercise
- Running/jogging
Benefits of exercising while nursing
Regular moderate exercise while breastfeeding can provide the following benefits to the mother.
1. Lose weight: Many new mothers look forward to returning to their pre-pregnancy workout routines to shed the weight gained during pregnancy. Postpartum workouts promote weight loss and help you maintain a healthy weight.
2. Improve mood: Postpartum depression is real, and exercise is a great way to beat the blues. Exercising while breastfeeding improves mood, reduces stress and benefits mental health.
3. Helps you sleep better: With a newborn at home, sleep is hard to come by, and most moms will swear by it. Physical activity and exercise improve the quality of your sleep, and the same is true during breastfeeding.
4. More energy: Exercising releases endorphins, dopamine and serotonin, also known as 'feel-good' hormones. When you return to exercise after giving birth, you'll notice an increase in your energy levels and an improved sense of well-being.
These benefits help the mother feel more relaxed, ultimately improving the secretion of the hormones prolactin and oxytocin, which are important for milk production and let-down. Better milk production and let-down ultimately lead to an adequate milk supply for the baby and less likely to experience breastfeeding-related problems.
Does exercise adversely affect your breast milk supply?
It is thought that exercising while you are breastfeeding your baby can change the taste of your breast milk and reduce its quantity. However, studies show that moderate exercise does not affect the taste or supply of breast milk. At the same time, research shows that strenuous exercise can increase the concentration of lactic acid in human breast milk.
Although its effects on the baby are unknown, babies sensitive to the taste of breast milk may behave confusedly during feeding. However, most babies get used to changes in the taste of breast milk, which is also influenced by other factors such as diet. Overall, the benefits of exercise while breastfeeding outweigh the risks.
Tips for exercising while breastfeeding
- Keep yourself well hydrated:
- Start with low-impact exercises:
- Work at home:
- Choose the activity you feel most comfortable with:
- Don't be tempted to lose weight quickly: